Southfield Fire Department crew demonstrating to Southfield High students what takes place at a fatal car crash scene. Photo by Aftab Borka

An auditorium full of high school students were given dire warnings about the dangers they face on the roads.

“Right now, if you look to the person to your left and then you look to the person to your right, in your lifetime one of those people are going to die in a car accident.”

That was what Southfield Detective Mark LaBrosse offered students at Southfield High, following the warning with a statistic that said about 35 percent of teenagers involved in car accidents end up losing their lives.

And a major reason for those accidents, according to LaBrosse, is: “Because people are making (bad) choices. It doesn’t have to be that person who is driving drunk.”

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More than one hundred students had a chance to learn about the dangers of impaired driving by listening to expert opinions and later witnessing a mock fatal car crash scene in the school’s parking lot. Southfield firefighters demonstrated to the students what happens at a fatal car crash scene.

Seniors Romeo Manigault and Jalen Smith, both 18, said what they saw in their school’s parking lot will have an effect on their future decisions about driving.

Markeisha Washington, an attorney, spoke about the cost of drunken driving those students could pay.

“If anyone of you make a poor choice on prom night, or even going forward, you are going to be paying me, or someone like me, $1,500 dollars. That’s an average,” Washington said.